Missouri Prisoners Forced to Shovel Snow in Subzero Temperatures
As the record-breaking winter storm blew through Missouri on the weekend of January 23, 2026, some prisoners were forced to go outside to clear snow from walkways, according to the Missouri Independent. As the storm brought heavy snowfall and wind chills of down to minus 30 degrees, Dena Notz, a prisoner activist who founded the organization Collectively Changing Corrections, began receiving reports from across the state of prisoners deployed to shovel snow, day and night—all while the state Department of Corrections’ fleet of small utility vehicles with snow plows and brushes sat idle.
At the Algoa Correctional Center, located in Jefferson City, one prisoner reported being placed in administrative segregation for refusing to venture out. “They locked me up, took me down to the hole, stripped me naked and left me there exposed to the elements in a building that is not heated,” said the prisoner, who is enrolled in educational programs and exempt from labor assignments. Algoa, a 93-year-old prison, is the subject of a class-action lawsuit, filed in 2025, over indoor climate conditions (temperatures that in summer reached 100 degrees as the facility lacks air conditioning).
Missouri prison officials claim that prison crews are necessary to clear snow for medical crews and to allow prisoners to reach dining halls and work assignments. They also claim that, while the agency does have snow-removal vehicles, “they might not be appropriate for all walkways—and we don’t have enough of them for everyone involved in snow removal to use them.”
Notz, along with accounts from Algoa, received reports from the Moberly Correctional Center in Randolph County that prisoners were woken up in the middle of the night for three-hour shifts and then called to go back out at dawn. Wesley Hays, a prisoner at Moberly who is part of a “work on demand” detail, described being issued inadequate gear, such as boots that weren’t insulated, adding that “they have a four wheel drive out there that could have done one sweep, one swipe could have been done … And they have us guys on there with shovels and push brooms for hours doing something that … that UTV could have done within one hour.”
Source: Missouri Independent
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